Hassock

ABSTRACT

A shoe storage hassock having a lid in the top through which shoes may be inserted into and removed from a rotatable drum contained within the interior of the hassock. The hassock is so sized that a person may sit on the top while simultaneously gaining access to the storage drum through the lid in the top.

United States Patent 1191 Novak July 17, 1973 [54] HASSOCK 2,595,144 4/1952 1511115011 297/462 2,606,599 a 1952 s 297 462 [761 Invent Warren Douglas 2,613,735 10/1952 ammuom 297/142 x R0 ,ChapP q NY 10514 2,312,227 11/1957 Hill 297/193 [22] Filed: Apr. 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 240,508

[52] U.S. Cl 297/193, 312/305, 297/462 [51] Int. Cl. A47c 9/00 [58] Field of Search 297/462, 193, 192; 108/139; 312/11, 125, 197, 59, 97.1, 305

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 245,833 8/1881 lmse... 297/193 X 924,938 6/1909 Richter.. 1. 108/139 1,076,421 10/1913 Hale 312/97.1 1,389,181 8/1921 Benson 312/305 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Popular Mechanics; May 1938; pp. 771, 772, 773.

Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Attorney-James S. HightJohn 1D. Poffenberger et al.

57 ABSTRACT A shoe storage hassock having a lid in the top through which shoes'may be inserted into and removed from a rotatable drum contained within the interior of the has- 10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures IIASSOCK This invention relates to a hassock which has a hollow interior for the storage of articles and particularly to a shoe storage hassock having compartments for the storage of pairs of shoes within the interior of the has sock. I

Currently, the trend in housing is to live in less spacious quarters, as in smaller houses, smaller apartments, and in small second or vacation homes. At the same time there is a trend toward personal affluence and the collection of personal possessions or effects. Among the personal effects which are being collected in increasing quantities are articles of personal clothmg.

As individuals collect more articles of clothing and store them in less space than has traditionally been the custom, one of the results is that clothes closets have become increasingly cluttered and the bottom of the closets have increasinglybecome collection centers for a jumbled disarray of shoes.

Numerous attempts have been made to alleviate th shoe storage problem, as for example, by locating shoe sacks or shoe racks in closets; but for the most part these attempts have not been widely accepted because they, too, require closet space which is already at a pre mium or because they are just too inconvenient to use.

There have also been attempts to combine shoe storage racks with items of furniture but those, too, have met with little success, generally because they required excessive modification of a major item of furniture and- /or because they are to inconvenient to use regularly. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,269,878 discloses a shoe storage rack in combination with a chair; but the use of the rack requires an individual to either get down on his knees to insert and remove shoes, or to bend over while seated to a greater extent than is generally possible or at least comfortable for most people. U. S. Pat. No. 2,082,088 discloses a shoe storage rack incombination with a bed but this rack requires extensive revision and reconstruction of an existing bed to house the rack and is generally to inconvenient for widespread use.

It has therefore been an objective of this invention to provide a combination shoe storage rack and item of furniture which is convenient to use and is also an attractive and relatively inexpensive item of furniture.

Still another objective of this invention has been to provide an item of furniture which may be used as a seating surface and as a convenient shoe storage-rack. Still another objective of this invention has been to provide a combination seating device and storage device which enables shoes to be stored and removed from storage by a person seated on the device without the exercise of gymnastic contortions and/or without having to get up from the seating surface to insert and remove shoes from the device.

These objectives are accomplished by a combination seating device and shoe storage rack in the form of an oversize hassock which has a lid. in the top .through which shoes may be inserted and removed from a rotatable storage drum contained in the interior of the hassock. The top surface of the hassock is circular and has a pie segment shaped door orlid in thetop through which shoes maybe inserted into and removed from the storage drum located beneath the seating surface by a person seated upon the top of the hassock. To gain access to any compartment within'the drum, a user of this combination shoe storage and seating device need only rotate the compartemented drum through the door opening until a selected pair of shoes is located beneath the opening or until an open compartment is located beneath the opening.

This combination shoe storage and seating device has the advantage of being usable by a seated person without his having to get up from the surface upon which he is seated and without his having to go through a series of gymnastic contortions to gain access to the storage area. It also has the advantage of being housed in a relatively inexpensive item of furniture which occupies a minimum of space and is useful in a bedroom as a foot stool or as a chair.

This shoe storage hassock also has the advantage of lending itself to innumerable decorative arrangements. The hassock has an upholstered padded top and an upholstered padded pie segment shaped lid in the top. When closed, the lid forms acontinuation of the upholstered top surface of the hassock. There are spindles located around the periphery of the hassock which function to support the top upon a. base while still permitting rotation of a drum located interiorly of the spindles. By changing the contours of the spindles, as for example, from-chrome plated cylindrical spindles to fluted and contoured wooden or plastic spindles and by changing the decor on the padded top of the hassock as well as the decorative upholstery around the periphcry of the drum, the decorative effect of the hassock may be materially altered without in any way affecting the functional utility of the unit.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the shoe storage hassock of this invention in use and with the lid open;

FIG. 2 is a top planview of the, hassock;

. FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3+3 of FIG.2;and N. t

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view throughthe hassock taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3. t

Referring first to FIG. 1, it will beseen that the hassock of this invention is there illustrated as a chair or seating device 10. Whilethe term hassock is generally defined as a footstool, all foot stools are useful as chairs and arecommonly used as such. The combination storage and seating device of this invention has the appearance of a hassock or foot stool and is sueful in the same manner. and therefore it will be referred to throughout this applicationas a hassock or a shoe storage hassock." It should be appreciated, though, that while the hassock of this invention is primarily intended for use in the storage of shoes,.it has application for storing other household or clothing articles, as for example, stockings and, shoe polish kits, or even childrens toys if the hassock 'is employed in a child's room or playroom. For purposes of this description, though, its utility will becxplained inrelation to its primary intended application, as a combination shoe storage and seating device. l i I Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the hassock 10 of this invention comprises a base plate 11 from which a top plate 12 is supported by a plurality of spindles 13. A rotatable storage drum I4 is contained interiorly of the spindles 13 and is supported by the two plates 11, 12. Between the topsof the spindles l3 and the bottom surface of top plate 12, there is a crescent shaped metal plate 15 which supports the door or lid 16.

The base plate 11 is circular and has 12 equidistantly spaced spindle receiving recesses 18 in its top surface adjacent the periphery of the plate. It also has six equidistantly spaced roller bearing receiving recesses 19 spaced slightly radially inwardly from alternate ones of the spindle receiving recesses 18. Each of the recesses 19 is intersected by a shallow axle receiving recess 20 which supports an axle 21 of a roller 22 located in each of the recesses 19. In the preferred embodiment, these rollers are made from nylon with steel ball bearing hubs. They support the bottom 23 of the drum 14 adjacent its periphery and enable it to be easily rotated with light finger pressure, even when fully loaded.

The drum 14 may either rotate relative to a fixed axle or, as in the illustrated embodiment, it may rotate with a rotatable axle 27. If the axle is to rotate, the base plate 11 of the hassock has a central recess 25 within which there is mounted a bushing 26. This bushing rotatably supports the axle 27. To hold the bottom of the drum spaced from the top surface of the base plate 11, there is a bearing block or spacer 28 located between the top of the base plate and the bottom 23 of the drum. The top 34 of the axle is rotatably supported within a bushing 33 located in a bore 32 in the center of the top plate 12.

The top plate 12 rests upon and is supported atop the spindles 13 to which it is secured by steel threaded inserts 38 embedded in the top plate 12 and threaded studs 39 embedded in and extending upwardly from the top of the spindles into the inserts 38. Of course, any kind of conventional adhesive or connector could be used in lieu of these inserts 38 and studs 39.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, padding 35 in the form of a foam rubber cushion is located over the top surface of the plate 12 including the lid portion 16 and both the plate and padding 35 are encased in decorative upholstering 36.

The lid 16 comprises a pie segment shaped section of the top plate 12. This segment is completely disconnected from the remainder of the top except for a hinge connection along one radial edge 37 of the lid. In the preferred embodiment this hinge is a so-called piano hinge 40. When the lid 16 is closed, it is supported upon the top of the crescent shaped metal plate which is in turn fixedly secured between the tops of the spindles and the bottom of the top plate 12.

To facilitate opening of the lid by insertion of a persons finger beneath the lower edge of the free or swinging side of the lid, there is a recess or cut out 43 in the outer periphery of the crescent shaped plate 15.

When the lid is open, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the interior of the open top drum 14 is exposed through the top opening 44 provided by the open lid. As may be seen most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4, the interior of the drum is divided into a series of pie segment shaped compartments 48 by a series of radial spacers 45 located interiorly of the drum. These spacers 45 are mounted in radialgrooves 41 of the base plate and in aligned radial grooves 42 of an upper supporting disc 47. The disc has a central aperture through which the axle 27 extends. There is an annular spacer 47A located between the top of the disc 47 and the bottom of the top plate 12 6 shoulder 27A on center shaft 27, and consequently the annular spacer 47A must be sufficiently thin so as not to provide an interference fit with the under surface of the top plate 12 and the slotted disc 47.

The spacers 45 extend between and may be secured to the side wall 46 of the drum and the axle 27. In the preferred embodiment there are 10 spacers, each of which is of approximately the same height as the side wall of the drum. Each compartment 48 is intended to house or store one pair of shoes.

In order to gain access to all compartments through the top opening 44, the drum may be rotated by a person inserting his hand through the opening 44 and turning the top of one of the exposed spacers 45. This results in the drum 14 rotating and serially locating the compartments beneath the opening 44 so as to expose the contents of the compartments 48 to view through the opening 44. After having stored a pair of shoes in the hassock or removed a desired pair of shoes from the hassock, the lid may be closed and the hassock then has the appearance of any conventional foot stool or oversize ottoman. It is then useful as either a foot stool or chair until such time as someone desires to insert or remove a pair of shoes.

It has been found that a 26-inch diameter drum accommodates 10 pairs of men's shoes or high top boots. Of course, a greater number of ladies or children's shoes may be accommodated in the same space so that a greater number of compartments could be inserted in the same drum if it were intended for that limited use. It has also been found that a hassock 10 of about 17% inches over-all height forms a comfortable seating surface and at the same time accommodates a drum which has an inside vertical dimension of about 13% inches. This vertical dimension is approximately the same as that of a size 12 mans shoe. Consequently, shoes up to this size may be stored in the compartments of this size hassock.

The primary advantage of this shoe storage hassock over other hollow storage hassocks which have preceded it is that it may be used in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 by a person while seated on the hassock without the person having to go through a series of gymnastic contortions to reach the storage area. Heretofore, storage hassocks have required a seated person to get up from the seating surface, remove the top, bend over and insert the shoes or articles to be stored in the hassock, and then replace the top.

Another advantage of this hassock is the ease with which it lends itself to numerous different decorative decors. By changing the appearance of the upholstering 36 on the top of the unit and by varying the appearance of the spindles, as for example, from straight cylindrical chrome plated bars 13 to fluted decorative spindles, and by varying the decorative covering on the exterior surface of the side wall 46 of the drum, the complete ornamental effect of the hassock may be varied.

While I have described only a single preferred embodiment of my invention, persons skilled in the art to which it pertains will readily appreciate numerous changes and modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Therefore, I do not intend to be limited except by the scope of the following appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A storage hassock comprising a generally circular base support plate,

a generally circular top plate having a fixed section and a movable section, means supporting said fixed section of said top plate in horizontally spaced relation to said bottom plate,

said movable top section of said top plate being hingedly connected along a generally radially ex tending hinge line to said fixed section of said top plate,

an open top drum located between said plates, and

means rotatably supporting said drum between said plates such that said movable section of said top plate may be opened by a person seated on said fixed section of top plate and said drum rotated by said person so as to sequentially locate radial sections of said drum beneath said opening.

2. The hassock of claim 1 in which said drum is compartmented by radial spacers contained within said drum.

3. The storage hassock of claim 2 in which each of said drum compartments is smaller in horizontal cross sectional area than said movable section of said top plate.

4. The storage hassock of claim 1 which further includes padding and upholstery over the top plate of said hassock.

5. A shoe storage hassock for storing a plurality of pairs of shoes beneath a seating surface, said hassock comprising a generally circular base support plate,

a generally circular top plate having a fixed section and a movable pie segment shaped section, means supporting said fixed section of said top plate in horizontally spaced relation to said bottom plate, said movable top section of said top plate being hingedly connected along a generally radially extending hinge line to said fixed section of said top plate, an open top drum located between said plates, and means rotatably supporting said drum between said plates such that said movable section of said top plate may be opened by a person seated on said fixed section of top plate and said drum rotated by said person so as to sequentially locate radial seetions of said drum beneath said opening.

6. The hassock of claim 1 in which said drum is com partmented by radial spacers contained within said drum.

7. The storage hassock of claim 2 in which each of said drum compartments is smaller in horizontal cross sectional area than said movable section of said top plate.

8. The storage hassock of claim: 1 which further includes padding and upholstery over the top plate of said hassock.

9. A shoe storage hassock for storing a plurality of pairs of shoes beneath a seating surface, said hassock comprising a generally circular base support plate,

a generally circular top plate having a fixed section and a movable pie segment shaped section, both of said sections having padding and upholstery over the top surface,

means including a plurality of vertical spindles located around the periphery of said plates for supporting said top plate in horizontally spaced relation to said bottom plate,

said movable top section of said top plate being hingedly connected along a generally radially extending hinge line to said fixed section of said top plate,

an open top drum located between said plates, radial spacers contained within said drum for dividing said drum into radial compartments, and

means including a center post extending between said plates and rotatably supporting said drum such that said movable section of said top plate may be opened by a person seated on said fixed section of top plate and said drum rotated by said person so as to sequentially locate radial compartments of said drum beneath said opening.

10. The shoe hassock of claim 9 in which said drum support means includes a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation in said base plate and engaging the bottom surface of said drum adjacent the periphery thereof. 

1. A storage hassock comprising a generally circular base support plate, a generally circular top plate having a fixed section and a movable section, means supporting said fixed section of said top plate in horizontally spaced relation to said bottom plate, said movable top section of said top plate being hingedly connected along a generally radially extending hinge line to said fixed section of said top plate, an open top drum located between said plates, and means rotatably supporting said drum between said plates such that said movable section of said top plate may be opened by a person seated on said fixed section of top plate and said drum rotated by said person so as to sequentially locate radial sections of said drum beneath said opening.
 2. The hassock of claim 1 in which said drum is compartmented by radial spacers contained within said drum.
 3. The storage hassock of claim 2 in which each of said drum compartments is smaller in horizontal cross sectional area than said movable section of said top plate.
 4. The storage hassock of claim 1 which further includes padding and upholstery over The top plate of said hassock.
 5. A shoe storage hassock for storing a plurality of pairs of shoes beneath a seating surface, said hassock comprising a generally circular base support plate, a generally circular top plate having a fixed section and a movable pie segment shaped section, means supporting said fixed section of said top plate in horizontally spaced relation to said bottom plate, said movable top section of said top plate being hingedly connected along a generally radially extending hinge line to said fixed section of said top plate, an open top drum located between said plates, and means rotatably supporting said drum between said plates such that said movable section of said top plate may be opened by a person seated on said fixed section of top plate and said drum rotated by said person so as to sequentially locate radial sections of said drum beneath said opening.
 6. The hassock of claim 1 in which said drum is compartmented by radial spacers contained within said drum.
 7. The storage hassock of claim 2 in which each of said drum compartments is smaller in horizontal cross sectional area than said movable section of said top plate.
 8. The storage hassock of claim 1 which further includes padding and upholstery over the top plate of said hassock.
 9. A shoe storage hassock for storing a plurality of pairs of shoes beneath a seating surface, said hassock comprising a generally circular base support plate, a generally circular top plate having a fixed section and a movable pie segment shaped section, both of said sections having padding and upholstery over the top surface, means including a plurality of vertical spindles located around the periphery of said plates for supporting said top plate in horizontally spaced relation to said bottom plate, said movable top section of said top plate being hingedly connected along a generally radially extending hinge line to said fixed section of said top plate, an open top drum located between said plates, radial spacers contained within said drum for dividing said drum into radial compartments, and means including a center post extending between said plates and rotatably supporting said drum such that said movable section of said top plate may be opened by a person seated on said fixed section of top plate and said drum rotated by said person so as to sequentially locate radial compartments of said drum beneath said opening.
 10. The shoe hassock of claim 9 in which said drum support means includes a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation in said base plate and engaging the bottom surface of said drum adjacent the periphery thereof. 